Ceria (CeO2) is an increasingly important inorganic oxide that is used as an abrasive material in chemical mechanical polishing compositions for planarizing surfaces during the fabrication of integrated circuits. When produced via conventional flame spray pyrolysis processes, ceria tends to exhibit a substantially cubic, crystalline shape. It is believed that the relatively sharp edges of the cubic shaped ceria particles may gouge and/or scratch surfaces being planarized, which is particularly problematic as the size of integrated circuit architecture decreases.